Whispers
by TheLadyIcarus
Summary: A slightly AU novelization of WWRY. Full explanation inside. Rated to be safe.
1. Pain

**Author's note:** When I first saw WWRY I thought, that'd be really really amazing as a novel. So here it is. I have taken some artistic liberties in this, so while the basic storyline remains the same, I've strayed quite far from the show in terms of dialogue and scenes. Hopefully this will simply enhance the story. All of this is from Galileo's point of view.

**Disclaimer:** WWRY does not belong to me, and nor do these characters or the storyline. Any songs referenced belong to their respective artists and record labels.

* * *

They came for him in the night.

Alone, sitting in his assigned room, staring at the whitewashed walls. He didn't stand a chance. One second he was there, dreaming and imagining, and then suddenly the door burst open and the faceless minions poured in. He hadn't even had time to turn around before a hand slammed into his mouth, stifling the emerging scream. They were already dragging him out of the room by the time his mind caught up, but by then all it could supply was terror. A blindfold was forced against his wild eyes even as his feet skidded hopelessly against the slippery floor.

To the rest of the students, it would be just like he had disappeared. Only the broken lock on the door would give the slightest indication of what had really happened. Perhaps even that would be fixed by the time his neighbours woke up in the morning.

Even if they did guess he'd been taken, it wasn't like anyone hadn't been expecting it.

They definitely wouldn't miss him.

A hand on his back forced him to thud down onto his knees, and in the same instant the blindfold was ripped off. Galileo blinked and reeled at the sudden light, intimately conscious of the hands that settled firmly on each of his shoulders.

He looked up and into the face of his Headmistress and was mildly surprised to find that he wasn't at all surprised.

"I'm sorry," she said, although she didn't sound sorry at all. "I tried to make you realise how dangerous your actions were."

Galileo's teeth clenched, but the retort died on his lips as his eyes fell upon the man standing next to her. Sewn as an insignia onto his jacket pocket was the symbol of the Killer Queen.

"So..." The man glanced down at the small computer screen he held in his hand. ". Is it true that you have given yourself a new name?" His voice sounded pleasant - genuinely interested, even - but his eyes were narrowed dangerously. Feeling reckless Galileo glared at him, but found himself unable the gather up the courage to reply.

"Galileo," the Headmistress said, voice filled with disdain, as if even saying the word brought her discomfort. "Galileo Figaro." She turned to the man who worked for Killer Queen. "I want you to know that I've tried my best, Commander, I really have."

Oh yes, Galileo knew she had.

"You are not to blame here," the Commander said softly, almost tenderly. Then he turned his eyes back to rest on Galileo again. "Unfortunately, there are those who can never be cured by... conventional methods."

Galileo finally found his voice. "I want to make music," he said, surprising himself with the amount of hatred to could put into those few words. "Real music, my _own_ music."

The man raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips. Beside him, the Headmistress fretted. "He was once caught trying to stretch plastic string across an empty lunchbox."

Unwittingly, Galileo grimaced. That had been an interesting day.

Suddenly the Commander moved to crouch in front of him, bright eyes scrutinising him carefully. Galileo unconsciously tried to back away, but the hands on his shoulders forced him to remain where he was until the Commander's face was so close Galileo could smell his breath. "And you are aware that music other than that programmed by the Globalsoft Corperation is illegal?"

Galileo held his gaze silently before licking his lips nervously. "I don't care," he said softly. "The Globalsoft Corperation is wrong."

The Headmistress gasped sharply. Standing suddenly, the Commander turned and stalked forward, his stance tense; the two hands on Galileo's shoulders tightened painfully. He glared up at them, but both his guards were staring straight ahead, and Galileo couldn't see their faces.

"Did he pluck this... this makeshift instrument?" the Commander asked in disgust, back still to Galileo.

The Headmistress glanced down at him before replying. "Yes - but he claimed he didn't know why."

"Ignorance. Interesting. And the name? Where did that come from?"

"I dreamt it!" Galileo snapped, cutting in before his Headmistress could even open her mouth. Suddenly he was scared that if he was cut out of this conversation, he would lose what little identity he had. "I imagined it. I took it from the one place that you pigs can't control."

The Commander turned around, and Galileo bit his lip hard at the greedy expression that was suddenly on his face. Inwardly he cursed himself. He hadn't meant to reveal that particular piece of information. For the first time since the blindfold had been removed, Galileo lowered his eyes and stared firmly at the ground in front of him. In the silence that followed, his thoughts buzzed with words he knew weren't his own. Thankful for the escape, Galileo closed his eyes and _listened_.

He was wrenched back into reality a moment later as a sharp pain laced through his body, With a gasp, Galileo's eyes flew open and he found himself doubled over, fighting for breath. His own scream echoed in his ears.

When the hands grabbed his shoulders and forced him upright again, Galileo could see the Headmistress had turned her face away. In the Commander's hand was the laser gun, side strips blazing with light. Galileo stared at it, wide-eyed, trying to ignore the sweat that was starting to settle on his forehead.

"Never," the Commander breathed, "try to tell me that I can't control your mind. You might just tempt me to try."

Galileo tried to hide his wince at the stab of fear that shot through him, but couldn't stop himself from shuddering. He tried to disguise it by taking a deep breath, but the Commander saw and smiled in obvious satisfaction.

"Good," he said. Galileo flinched as he raised the laser gun and began fiddling with the switches on the side. When he pointed it at his prisoner again, Galileo twisted backwards, struggling futilely against the guards who held him fixed in place.

"You and I," the Commander said, "Will talk more later."

With that, he fired. The scream didn't even make it to Galileo's lips; there was no pain, but as soon as the light struck him, he fell into black.


	2. Fear

The green light of the laser cage was obvious even before he opened his eyes. Trying to block its constant humming out of his mind, Galileo remained where he was and attempted to remember his dream. It had been amazing - that much he was sure of. There had been sounds and lights and _movement_, but beyond that the details were slipping away. Unconsciously his lips began mouthing words to go along with the tidbits of tunes that still lingered. But as the magic began to get fainter and fainter, he knew he had to come back to reality.

Still with his eyes closed, he took stock of his body. He appeared to be slumped across some kind of chair, and it was only when he focused on them that he realised his back and shoulders were aching. In a flash the confrontation with the Commander came back to him, and he couldn't help but let out a soft whimper as he remember the sharp pain of the laser gun.

The only way to escape the memory was to open his eyes, but as soon as he did so he regretted it. The green light stabbed at his eyes, but beyond the glare of the lasers there was nothing but darkness. Experimentally Galileo reached out a hand, but the instant his fingers brushed the laser it sparked, sending a jolt of white-hot pain up his arm. With a hiss Galileo withdrew it, cradling it against his chest. But now he knew one thing at least: he would do anything to avoid getting hurt again.

With a sigh Galileo shifted, moving his weight so that his back no longer ached. But he was uncomfortably aware of the tiny circumference of the cage; he sat stiffly, terrified that if he relaxed he'd get himself shocked again.

His daydreams of fighting Globalsoft had been so daring and romantic. Now all he felt was sick. Sick and scared.

Maybe he should have just kept it all to himself. The name, the dreams. The desire to be different. If he'd have been stronger, if he'd have been able to keep his mouth shut the other day - yesterday? the day before? though it felt like a lifetime ago - then none of this would be happening. He could have kept on going, pretending that a virtual life made him happy, pretending that he didn't wake up every morning wishing that he hadn't.

It hadn't even been that big a deal. Just one teacher - Galileo didn't even care to remember her name - suggesting that he took up music programming once he'd graduated. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing over the line. But suddenly all the anger and all the _hurt_ that he'd bottled up for his whole life came lashing out in one passionate explosion. That poor teacher hadn't deserved it - but Galileo had needed it. He'd screamed and screamed about wanting to be his own person, to make his own rules, to make his own music, and it wasn't until he ran out of breath that he'd finally noticed everyone staring.

The looks on his classmates' faces broke his heart. Not one of them understood that they weren't the individuals they thought they were: they were clones, programmed to act how Globalsoft wanted them to act, to feel what Globalsoft wanted them to feel. And then he couldn't help himself: he'd shouted at them too. Not because he was angry, but because he desperately wanted them to see themselves through _his_ eyes.

But they couldn't. So when he stood there and faced wave after wave of angry and confused silence, he could do nothing but run back to his room, lock the door and wait to be arrested.

He hadn't been scared though. He'd effectively signed his own death warrant, but instead of being scared he'd felt exhilarated. Amazingly free. In those few moments, he'd felt more alive that he could ever remember - expect for during the dreams, of course, when the words whispered to him. He listened for them now, but the inside of his head was disturbingly quiet. Except for the constant hum of the laser cage and his own breathing - nothing. It was almost amusingly ironic: the words in his head had been the one thing he could cling to, the one thing he could forge an identity from that didn't come from Globalsoft. The one thing he'd got arrested for. And now, when he needed them most, they'd deserted him. Galileo felt curiously betrayed.

The look on the Commander's face when Galileo had let slip about his dreams had been the most disturbing thing. It was like... he knew something about them that Galileo didn't. It was maddening. Perhaps if Galileo could just work out what they meant and where they came from, everything would make so much more sense.

The thoughts whirled around Galileo's head, and with the constant, surrounding darkness he had no idea how much time had passed. He occasionally drfited into sleep, only to jerk awake suddenly when he remembered where he was. Despite himself, he sung broken tunes quietly under his breath, if only to hear a sound that wasn't the humming of the lasers. It was a poor replacements for the songs in his head, but it was better than nothing.

As the boredom increased, the fear faded. Soon it was the waiting that scared him the most, and he even found himself looking forward to the inevitable conversation with the Commander. Finally, unable to take it any longer, Galileo stood up. Hands clasped behind his back to avoid the lasers, he squinted into the darkness and shouted.

"Hello!"

It came as a slight shock that his cry didn't echo. Instead, the darkness seemed the absorb the word, reducing it to nothing. But that only seemed to highlight his isolation, and with a sudden panic Galileo shouted louder.

"Hello? I thought you wanted to talk!"

When that brought no reply either, Galileo simply screamed. He poured all his fear and frustration into a single note, and held it until his throat felt raw. He stood quietly and listened as it faded back into silence. And just as he was wondering whether he should deliberately shock himself to make himself scream louder, he heard the unmistakeable hiss of a door sliding open.

A dim light shone into the room from the open door, and for the first time Galileo could see beyond the glow of the laser cage. The room was small, smaller even than the bedroom he'd had back at the academy. Strangely different from the smooth white walls he was used to, the whole room seemed to be made of a rough grey material. Standing silhouetted in the doorway was the figure of a man - unmistakably the Commander.

He took a couple of steps into the room then paused. "You called?" he said, but there was an edge to his voice that suddenly made Galileo terrified. Feeling his knees go weak, Galileo slowly lowered himself back onto the chair.

"Shall we get one thing straight?" the Commander asked. He came closer until Galileo could finally see his face illuminated in sickly green. "I am not your pet. I do not come when you call. Is that understood?"

Galileo swallowed hard, trying to cling to his earlier passion, but it was slowly dissolving in his fear. Instead, he looked down. "I thought you-"

He jumped violently as the laser cage suddenly sparked, and looked up sharply to see the Commander's hand loosely touching the bars, barely flinching.

"I will talk to you when I want to talk to you," the Commander said. He dropped his hand back down and spots of light danced in Galileo's vision. "Not before."

With that he turned on his heels and stalked out. The door hissed closed behind him and plunged the room back into darkness.


End file.
